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Iberis sempervirens 'Masterpiece'   CANDYTUFT  outrageous flowers   Pack Trials flower power   stupendously large, luscious, bright white flowers just keep on blooming. In cool weather the young buds in the center are tinted amethyst. These flowers and clusters are at least twice as large as normal, of very heavy substance, and are noticeably more heavily produced than on the typical species. Even the leaves are larger and more leathery. Evergreen and shrubby, it is easy to grow in sun or part shade. To about 12" tall and 2-3' wide. This will grow in less than perfect soil, as a groundcover, low shrub, or a mass of color. This particular form makes a great container plant, partly because of vigor and reliability and partly because of its almost everblooming tendency. Average watering, Sunset zones 1-24/USDA 4. Cruciferae/Brassicaceae. rev 11/2011 *NEW for 2012!*

Impatiens sodenii (oliveri)    POOR MAN’S RHODODENDRON    closeup    habit    a tender evergreen shrub to 5-6’ tall and wide, can be a "deciduous" perennial in areas of hard frosts if the crown doesn't freeze. It doesn't seem to persist in most areas where the plant freezes all the way to the ground every winter. Large (to 2") pale lavender pink flowers are produced almost all year, with stronger coloration in cool weather. Attractive, dramatic foliage is glossy dark green, rather formal unless damaged, often with a distinct bluish cast in full shade situations. Part sun to shade, average watering, but actually somewhat drought tolerant due to its succulent stems. This is also a very good choice for narrow situations, since its primary habit is vertical, and any stems tending sideways can simply be pruned off. Also good in containers. Eastern Tropical Africa. Balsaminaceae. rev 5/2010

'La Vida Rosa'  very pretty!  brushed with a swathe of rosy pink across the face of the white flower. A large, easy care shrub for bright shade or morning sun. The foliage is nice on its own, a dark blue green and very attractively shiny and tropical. Same specifcations, to about 3-5' tall and wide. rev 6/2011

New Guinea 'Sunpatiens'   vigorous lavender   colored foliage   this series represents a welcome return to the bigger, bolder, more durable New Guineas of the previous age, the ones that were big and bold and showy and a little extroverted. These feature larger, more durable flowers on much more vigorous, substantially more disease resistant plants that provide knockout flower and foliage color until frost. They will take full as long as they don't dry out, and are easiest if established before burning heat. They are easier in the drier air of Western climate zones in a partly sunny location, where they actually do like a breather between waterings. There are compact, vigorous, and spreading varieties. All grow at least 12" tall (or more!) and are wider in the garden than in containers. Garden size for compact ones = 24-36" tall and wide; vigorous and spreading varieties = 3-4' tall and wide. They fill out a hanging basket very nicely. Sunset zone 24/USDA 11. rev 5/2011 

Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’    BLOODGRASS   habit    backlit    a deciduous grass to 2’ tall with thin, striking dark red blades. Color is best in full sun, and it looks fabulous backlit. Spreads slowly by stolons, although in more strongly seasonal climates this or a related form can be dangerously invasive in wet habitats in more northerly latitudes. Average to occasional summer watering, slow in cool summer climates, frost hardy. Japan. Graminae/Poaceae. rev 5/2010

Ipomoea acuminata    BLUE DAWN FLOWER    closeup    Berkeley Way    with orange cannas    a fast evergreen vine or groundcover, usually deciduous with frost. It bears dark blue morning glory flowers to 3" across, aging to rosy mauve by afternoon, from late spring through fall. Sun, little or no summer watering. Regrows after a hard frost if the crowns are not frozen. This is one of the best and most noticeable flowering vines for warm Mediterranean to subtropical or tropical climates. It needs room, and can cover more than you want it to, but those blue, blue flowers are so rewarding and it combines so well with other subtropicals such as Plumbago and Bougainvillea. It can also survive on little summer watering. Tropical America. Convolvulaceae. rev 5/2010

Iresene lindenii    BLOODLEAF    foliage closeup    funny flowers    backlight effect at my house    a little later    a fabulous, fast, tender foliage plant for use when you need intense color in part sun or shady conditions. It grows to about 3' tall (and then some in very favorable conditions) and features dark coral red to fluorescent pink, lance-shaped leaves, with pointed tips, to about four inches long, striped with dark bronze. As leaves age the color becomes a lighter, almost fluorescent magenta pink. Its foliage colors are reminiscent of fall color tones found in other members of its family, the Amaranthaceae. This is probably some named red-leaved variant whose moniker I can't seem to find, because it occasionally reverts to a simpler green leaf with creamy veinal stripes, which is attractive in its own right and may be offered by us in the future. It grows very quickly with enough food and water and quickly fills in any spot to provide a blast of color. It can't take almost any frost, but if you can give it any protection whatsoever it should either be entirely evergreen or at least perennial most years in Sunset zones 8 and 16-24. In the very coldest years it will be killed but is so fast and easy you can even use it as a giant foliage annual in colder areas. It makes a great Coleus substitute for us here on the West Coast where that plant is limited by lack of humidity, lack of heat, or plenitude of snails. Snails will still go after this but I don't think they travel miles upwind like they do following the luscious leaf scent of Coleus (just my theory). It even outgrows most snail damage because it grows fast under cool conditions and outrageously fast under warm conditions. Use it in combo containers (fantastic!), against dark walls (superb!), or just tucked into any empty spot in your shade garden. USDA zone 9-10, Sunset zones 8, 16-17 (all with protection except as an annual), 21-24. Amaranthaceae. Ecuador. rev 10/2003